Freezing apparatus



July l, 1930 M. P, vUcAssovlcH 1,769,088

FREEZ ING APPARATUS 'Filed' July 9, 1929 Ptented ily l, E30

PATENT OFFICE MICHEL4 P. vUcAssovIcH,l or GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS -rnEEzING APPARATUS r Application ptiled July 9, 1929. Serial No. 376,963.

through the, ow of the liquid and to the tem eratureof theiliquid as it is moved.

T e apparatus to which my invention relates comprises a substantially horizontal container internally partitioned to form a sinuousl runway lwhich includes elongated major portions extending side by side, and shorter neck portions lconnecting the major portions in pairs, the runway being adapted to conduct a moving refrigerating liquid and buoyant receptacles 'floating thereon, in a s inuous path from a loading point to a discharge point, all as disclosed byPatent No. 1,644,441, dated September 6, 1927. In the operation of the apparatus disclosed by said patent, latent heat transference from material to be frozen inthe floating receptacles is wholly downward through the bottoms and portions of the sides of the receptacles, to the liquid supporting the same, so that the freezing commencesl at the lower -sides of the charges of material' in the receptacles, and rogresses upwardly.

ing of the charges from their bottom to their top surfaces by said apparatus, a runway of such length is required as to render the .apparatus undesirablyv bulk and cause it to 40 occupy an objectionably large area of floor space. l j

It has also been found that when the charges are moreA than usually thick, the time required for complete freezing is undesirably protracted, and that complete freezing is sometimes diicult of accomplishment.-

In` my'. pending application filed J une, 1, 1929, Serial No'. 367,619, I have disclosed an a paratus organized as abovel stated and c aracterized by means for causngan up- It as been found that to ensure the freezward transference of latent heat from the top surfaces of the charges while the abovedescribed downward transference is going on, so that the freezing progresses simultaneously from the bottom surfaces upward, and 5 5 from the topsurfaces downward, said means being embodied in ixed heatconducting de- 'lcctors located in the major portions of the runways `above the path of the receptacles, and means for discharging a refrigerating liquid on upper surfaces-of the deflectors.

The present invention is an improvement on that 4disclosed bysaid pending application, the chief object being' to eliminate the loss of time required to occasionally defrost said fixed deiiectors, it being necessary to stop the freezing operation during the operation of defrosting. y

I attain this object by providing a plurality of movable'deflectors adapted to cover and float withthe receptacles, the deflectors being removable with the receptacles from the runway, so that each frosted deflector may be defrosted outside the runway while the freezing operation is progressing, nonfrosted deilectors being substituted for removed frosted deflectors.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view. Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1- Figure 3 is an enlarged section onlin 3`3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows lin section one of the movable deflectors' inverted 'to receive a charge..

Figure 5 shows in section a container and 85 a movable deflector assembled for use, each having a chargei y The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures. v A

In' the drawings, ldesignates asubstan- 9 tially horizontal container or tank, having internal partitions 2 and 5 forming a sinuous runway composed ofV elongated major 'portions 3 located side by side, and shorter 5 neck portions 4, connecting the major portions 3 in pairs.

The inlet end 6 of the'runway is extended to the end of the container, to form a loading end, and the opposite end 6? is extended to a- 10o point adjacent the loading end, to form a discharge end.

A liquid such as brine, having the temperature desired, is delivered through a pipe 7, and discharged through an overowlS, maintaining a constant level through the apparatus.l Buoyant receptacles 9 are provided, adapted to contain charges of material to be frozen, and to be moved by the liquid in the runway from the end 6 to the end 6u.

The apparatus thus far described and its operation, are fully described by the abovementioned patent, latent heat being transferred downwardly from the charges to the liquid.

My above-mentioned pending application discloses means' for causing an upward transference of latent heat from -the top surfaces of the receptacle charges, fso that freezing progresses from the top surfaces downward, as well as from the bottom surfaces upward, said -means being embodied in xed heat conducting deflectors, or roofs of thin sheet metal located in the major portions of the runways above the path of the receptacles 9, and conduits lv13 supported above the defiectors and adapted to dis-v charge a refrigerating liquid upon the deflectors and thereby subject 'therece'ptac-les and their charges to the temperature of the discharged liquid, said temperature being practically the same as that of themoving liquid in the runway.

I have found that frost accumulating on the fixed delectors requires occasional stoppage of the freezing operation while the defiectors are being defrosted. To prevent the delay thus involved, I substitute for said fixed deflectors a pluralityof movable deliectors 15, the number of which equal to, and preferably greater than the number of receptacles 9.

Each deflector is formed as acover adapted to bear'separably on and float with a receptacle 9, and provided with a marginal flange 15a. The body of the deector has a slightly curved or crowning li uid distributing top surface, so that liqui discharged may be onlyI partially defrosted and left with a suicient coating of frost on its under surface to cause the adhesion thereto of another charge 16a while the delector is inverted, as shown by Figure 4, the charge 16a adhering to the deiector when the latter is turned right side up and placed on a receptacle, as shown by Figure 5. The frost coating of the deflector is, therefore, utilized to hold a charge 16a in close proximity to the deflector and above the charge 16 on the bottom of the receptacle.

- I claim: 4

Freezin apparatus comprising a substantially horlzontal container internally partitioned to form an elongated runway having a landing end and a discharge end, and adapted-to conduct a moving refrigerating liquid, and buoyant receptacles floating thereon, froml the loading to the dischargel end, said apparatus being characterized by movable heat-conducting 'deiiectors, formed a's coversA adapted to bear separably on and ioat with said receptacles, and having liquid distributing upper surfaces, and means for discharging a refrigerating liquid upon said surfaces and thereby causing upward transference of latent heat from the contents of the receptacles through the deflectors, said deiectors being movable with the receptacles covered thereby through the receiving and discharge ends of the runway, to permit the defrosting of the deflectors outside the runway, and the utilization of portions of the frostcoatings on the under sides of the deflectors, to hold charges placed thereon in' close proximity to the `deflectors and above charges placed on the bottoms of the receptacles.

In testimony whereof I have aiiixed my signature.

MICHEL P. vUoAssovIoH.

by a conduit 13 on the central portion of said surface Hows radially to the margin thereof.

The delectors are'movable with the receptacles through the receiving and dis-- charge ends of the runway, so that when each receptacle reaches the discharge end, it may be removed with the accompanying defiector, its frozen charge being then removed, and the deflector defrosted outside the runway, if its condition so requires. The removed receptacle may be provided with a. charge 16, and with another deflector free from frost, and inserted 'in the loading end without waiting for the defrosting of the removed defiector.

If desired,the Vremoved Ifrosted defiector 

